China Hits Reopening High On Saturday; ‘Dolittle’ Tops $10M As ‘Interstellar’ Reissue Poised For Sunday Blast – International Box Office

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorAfter pulling in $33.5M across five days of previews at the Chinese box office, local war epic The Eight Hundred overwhelmingly stormed theaters today, its first official day of release. Adding roughly $20M across the country on Friday — the biggest single-day box office since cinemas resumed operations — the Middle Kingdom cume is now north of $53M.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese war film, “The Eight Hundred” achieved a cumulative box office score of more than $40 million by late afternoon on its opening day, Friday.By 5pm local time, the film had notched up RMB62.7 million or $9.04 million, according to data from China Box Office and Ent Group. That added to $31.8 million of previews earned on Friday last week and the days between Monday and Wednesday this week.The film enjoyed an 86% market share.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorEXCLUSIVE: As the rolling process of cinema reopenings continues across various markets, IMAX has recently enjoyed strong grosses with local-language movies in Asia as well as the reissue of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar in China. This week in the Middle Kingdom, it’s set to have a particularly vibrant frame with war epic The Eight Hundred.

Will Smith encouraged movie-goers to follow the social distancing rules in China in a new safety PSA.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorChina was the big breakout this past weekend, leading the international box office for the fourth frame in a row and powered by the reissue of Warner Bros’ Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone in a 4K 3D restoration that conjured $13.6M on 16,000 screens over the three-day frame.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorIt’s not so much mischief managed as it’s magic managed: Warner Bros’ reissue of Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone has become the second film in the franchise to cross $1B worldwide. The film, originally released in 2001, counts a global cume of $1,001,260,000 after debuting in a remastered 4K 3D version in China this weekend.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBig-budget Chinese war epic “The Eight Hundred” is on course to be the first blockbuster film of the year in the Middle Kingdom, after super-strong Monday previews confirmed audience willingness to return to theaters.The film earned $7.24 million from 17,200 screenings on Monday, according to data from local analysis firm Ent Group.

Rebecca Davis editorPeter Chan’s hotly anticipated biographical sports drama “Leap” is set to hit China on Sept. 30, becoming the first of the Chinese New Year blockbusters canceled due to COVID-19 to set a theatrical outing.Local animation “Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deification,” which was also originally scheduled to premiere over the lunar new year, will premiere the day after.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorHarry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone worked some magic in China on Friday with Warner Bros’ 3D reissue conjuring $4.6M. This is by far the biggesst single-day gross since cinemas resumed operations, overtaking the opening of WB’s earlier re-release of Chirstopher Nolan’s Interstellar by 66% (though that film bowed on a Sunday).

Lost actor Daniel Dae Kim (nearly £40,000) towards a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for prolific Asian-American actor James Hong.Hong, now 91, has appeared in well over 600 credited roles in a career spanning nearly 70 years.Most famously, he's starred in movies like Chinatown, Big Trouble In Little China, Blade Runner and Airplane!He's also had prominent voice roles in the likes of the Kung Fu Panda movies (playing Po's father Mr.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorChristopher Nolan’s highly anticipated Tenet has been set for a September 4 release date in China. This will come on the heels of Warner Bros launching the event picture’s rollout in a host of offshore markets beginning on August 26 and in the U.S.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorWhile Universal’s Dolittle and Warner Bros’ reissue of Interstellar were the big kahunas in China this weekend, Russell Crowe-starrer Unhinged hit the road in 19 new markets over the session. Among them, the UK, Australia, Netherlands and New Zealand where the Solstice Studios pic was No.

Universal'sDolittletopped China's box office for a second week as the country's cinemas continued their tentative reopening following the novel coronavirus shutdown.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorChina’s second Friday with cinemas back to business in low-risk areas rang up another $4M at local turnstiles, a 39% increase versus the same day last week. About 60% of movie theaters are now operating, with capacity limits and social distancing still in place, so all numbers are to be taken with a grain of salt, though they are encouraging.

coronavirus continues to recede in China’s capital. Cinemas in parts of the city deemed at low risk of cross-infection began admitting moviegoers under social distancing rules.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorOn their first Friday back to operations, Chinese cinemas did roughly $2.92M worth of box office business — more than tripling Thursday’s figures and making a sizable jump from Monday when theaters opened to about $501K in low-risk areas across the country.